On March 27, UTSA’s
Student Government Association (SGA), in conjunction with the San Antonio
League of Women Voters and the San Antonio 20/20 Organization, will be hosting
a City Council Candidate Forum at UTSA’s main campus, and again at the downtown
location on April 13. These events will give students the opportunity to have
their voices heard by future leaders of San Antonio.
SGA President
Xavier Johnson believes this is an event, “that UTSA has a vested interest in.”
Students may
wonder how exactly City Council elections will impact their daily lives, Johnson
said, when, in fact, many San Antonio residents are directly affected by
decisions made at such a local level.
City Council makes
decisions that impact zoning and, subsequently, building construction. As a
university on a trajectory for growth, building laws will be of vital
importance to UTSA’s future, according to Johnson.
Building laws
are also of importance because they affect many of the relationships between
UTSA and the city of San Antonio. For example, the Alamodome, built and funded
by the city, hosts UTSA football games and, beginning this spring, graduation
ceremonies.
According to
Johnson, “There are many different rules and regulations that [City Council]
has within the city and those all affect the students that go here. Every
student interacts with them on a daily basis.”
SGA’s motivation
to host the forum is to “give our involvement and give back to the city as a
whole,” said Johnson. A positive relationship between SGA and City Council would
be beneficial to UTSA, Johnson stated, and with three new candidates in this
year’s race he believes now is a pivotal time to get involved.
In the forums,
candidates will have roughly two minutes to speak. Afterward, time is given to
students to better understand their candidates by asking questions. “Students
will have an opportunity to have their questions and their voices heard,” said Johnson.
The first of the
forums will be on March 27 for candidates running in District 8, which includes
the UTSA Main Campus. The event will be held in the University Room of the Business
Building (BB 2.06.04), and will run from 7:30-9 p.m.
For students in
District 5, which includes the Downtown Campus, a forum will be held at the
Downtown Campus Retama Auditorium and will run from 6-7 p.m.
UTSA
will be an early voting site for the election on May 11.
